As Duluth residents struggle with a lack of childcare and affordable housing options, a new project could provide relief on both fronts.
By James Kelly
As Duluth residents struggle with a lack of childcare and affordable housing options, a new project could provide relief on both fronts.
Through a partnership with Essentia Health and the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, the city is planning a facility that will serve as both a childcare center and affordable housing for seniors. According to a Northern News Now report, Duluth Child Care Task Force officials say the city needs more than 1,000 more childcare spaces. Planning for this new facility comes as a number of other childcare facilities in the area close, including Observation Hill Children’s Center.
The newly planned project in the Central Hillside neighborhood would feature 72 affordable housing units for seniors on the top three floors and daycare space on the ground floor for up to 100 children. The YMCA will run the daycare as an early childhood learning center.
The building will be constructed in the parking lot on the corner of 5th Avenue East and 5th Street. The city is expected to break ground on the facility next year with preliminary plans to open in 2026. The city must also raise an additional $1.2 million to reach the total funding goal of $5 million for the project.
Officials also noted that this facility is just a small part of solving the childcare and affordable housing issues that Duluth residents are facing. While the new facility will relieve some of the burden, it only accounts for a fraction of those 1,000 new childcare spaces city officials say are needed.
